This a photograph of the boys' yard in Edwardian times when it had begun to be used as the Master’s garden. The ladies playing croquet are members of his family – not inmates.
The photograph shows several features of the building that are now lost or altered. The tall chimneys have gone, and the cupola on the roof has been rebuilt with a different shape. The sills of most windows have been lowered and their cast iron frames replaced. There is no sign now of the wooden structure on the left: this was a ‘swing’ built for the boys to play on. It is mentioned in this entry from the Minutes of the Board of Guardians in October 1842.